Why women are better investors than men - study

Women outperform men by 1.8% when it comes to investment performance, according to a 2018 study by the Warwick Business School.

The study tracked 2 800 investors' behaviour and investment returns for three years.

It found that women investors not only outperformed the FTSE 100 during that period, they also outshone their male counterparts. While annual returns on investments for men were on average a marginal 0.14% above the performance of the FTSE 100, annual returns on the investment portfolios held by women were 1.94% above it.

The Warwick Business School analysis defines "lottery style" investing as a tendency to invest in more speculative, lower priced shares that might increase in value substantially.

Women tend to want to keep shares that show a loss while selling off their winners - the ones that have actually increased in value.

"Men are just a little more likely to be drawn to more speculative stocks whereas women are more likely to focus on shares that already have a good track record," states the report.

"Women also take a more long-term perspective, trading less frequently. This possibly means women are investing more to support their financial goals, whereas men are attracted to what they see as the thrill of investing."